Member of Technical Staff - Robotics Mechanical Engineer, Frontier AI & Robotics

About the role

We are seeking a Member of Technical Staff — Mechanical Engineer to lead the structural and electromechanical design of advanced high degree-of-freedom robotic systems within a frontier AI and robotics research lab.

Responsibilities

• Lead mechanical design of robotic subsystems and full platforms, including structures, joints, enclosures, and mechanisms for a research environment.
• Own kinematic, dynamic, and structural analyses to guide the design and optimization of full systems and subsystems of high-DoF robots.
• Specify and integrate actuators and motors for high-torque density applications in high-degree-of-freedom systems.
• Drive rapid iteration and prototyping cycles — from concept sketches through functional hardware — to accelerate learning and compress development timelines in a fast-paced R&D environment.
• Partner with the AI research team to establish simulation pipelines that enable rapid exploration of mechanical design space, informing actuator choices, structural topology, and system-level tradeoffs before committing to physical builds.
• Contribute to thermal management strategies for motors, sensors, and embedded compute hardware.
• Integrate sensors such as lidar, stereo cameras, IMUs, tactile sensors, and compute modules into compact, functional assemblies.
• Design and route cabling and wire harnesses, ensuring reliability, serviceability, and thermal/electrical integrity.
• Prototype and test mechanical systems; support hands-on builds, debug sessions, and field testing.
• Conduct root cause analysis on system-level failures or performance issues and implement design improvements.
• Apply Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) principles to transition prototypes into scalable builds (10s–100s of units).
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams in electrical engineering, controls, perception, and research to meet research and product goals.

Requirements

• A systems-thinking mindset with a strong grasp of cross-domain engineering trade-offs.
• A bias toward action: comfortable building, testing, and iterating rapidly.
• A collaborative and communicative working style — especially in multi-disciplinary research environments.
• A passion for robotics and advancing the state of the art in intelligent, capable machines.

Qualifications

• Experience in developing functional specifications, design verification plans and functional test procedures.
• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or equivalent.
• 6 to 10+ years in designing mechanical systems for robotics or complex electromechanical products.
• Proficiency in 3D CAD (e.g., SolidWorks, OnShape, or equivalent).
• Hands-on experience building prototypes, integrating hardware, and troubleshooting mechanical/electromechanical issues.
• Understanding of actuator and motor selection for complex robotic applications, including sizing for torque, speed, and thermal performance.
• Experience with wire/cable harness design and routing in compact mechanical systems.
• Familiarity with integrating sensing and compute elements into mechanical designs.
• Experience with structural analysis practices and tools (e.g. FEA/Ansys), thermal analysis, and material selection.
• Knowledge of DFM/DFA principles and exposure to volume production (100+ units).